“As the order left his lips, his sword fell, point-downward, and, with a headlong curve, he went over his horse upon the rocks below.  Even in his death he went towards the enemy.  His horse galloped in the same direction, but soon fell.  I thought that Strahan was gone also, for he was hidden by smoke.  A second later I heard his voice:  ‘Forward!  Charge!’

“The men seemed infuriated by the loss of the colonel, and by no means daunted.  Our next mad rush broke the second line of the enemy.

“The scene now defies all my powers of description.  The little handful of men that was left of my company were almost beyond control.  Each soldier was acting under the savage impulse to follow and kill some rebel before him.  I shared the feeling, yet remained sane enough to thank God when I saw Strahan leap lightly down from his staggering horse, yet ever crying, ‘Forward!’ A second later the poor animal fell dead.

“Our own cannons were bellowing above us; the shells of the enemy were shrieking over our heads.  There was a continuous crash of musketry that sounded like a fierce, devouring flame passing through dry thorns, yet above all this babel of horrid sounds could be heard the shouts and yells of the combatants and the shrieks and groans of wounded and dying men.  Then remember that I saw but a little section, a few yards in width, of a battle extending for miles.

“In our mad excitement we did not consider the odds against us.  The two remaining lines of battle were advancing swiftly through the fugitives, and we struck the first with such headlong impetuosity that it was repulsed and gave back; but the fourth and last line passing through, and being reinforced by the other broken lines, came unfaltering, and swept us back from sheer weight of numbers.  We were now reduced to a mere skirmish line.  It was at this moment that I saw Strahan fall, and it seemed but a second later that the enemy’s advance passed over the spot.  It was impossible then to rescue him, for the lieutenant-colonel had given orders for all to fall back and rally behind the guns that it was our duty to protect.  Indeed, the difficult thing, now, was to get back.  The Union regiment, on our right, had given way, after a gallant fight, earlier than we had, and the rebels were on our flank and rear.  A number of our men going to the ridge, from which they had charged, ran into the enemy and were captured.  There were desperate hand-to-hand encounters, hair-breadth escapes, and strange episodes.

“One occurs to me which I saw with my own eyes.  It happened a little earlier in the fight.  We were so close to the enemy that a man in my company had not time to withdraw his ramrod, and, in his instinctive haste to shoot first at a rebel just before him, sent ramrod and all through the Confederate’s body, pinning him to the ground.  The poor fellow stretched out his hands and cried for mercy.  My man not only wished to recover his rod, but was, I believe, actuated by a kindly impulse, for he ran to the ’Johnny,” pulled out the rod, jerked the man to his feet, and started him on a run to our rear as prisoner.